According to My Watch, It's Potty Time!

Today should have been met with a big Saturday breakfast and a sense of humor. Instead, I prepared myself with a sleepless night and herbal tea for our potty adventure. To say I was ill prepared would be an understatement.


Ariel showed some interest in the potty over the summer, so Eric and I borrowed videos and books from the library. Ariel loved watching and reading both, and soon connected the words “pee” and “poo” with the toilet. She wasn’t quite ready for the big leagues, so she had a few hits and way more misses while we waited. This also included some frustration for both of us. Mainly because Eric and I had no idea what we were doing. This potty training stuff isn't the easiest concept to get across.

It wasn’t until recently that Ariel had the dexterity, strength and coordination to pull her pants (and her diaper) on and off. Now we were getting somewhere. Since my mom was kind enough to help ease our potty woes, she bought a watch for Ariel. Every 30, 60, or 90 minute, the timer goes off and plays some cutesy music to let you know its time to potty. Pretty neat and informative.

So this morning began with a front row potty seat to “Toy Story” for 30 minutes before breakfast. Her diaper was warm and full when we pulled it off, so we weren’t expecting anything to come around for awhile. And it didn’t. For three whole hours! Eric and I were mostly passed out when she finally peed ¾ the way through the movie. Ariel looked into the potty and declared, “Candy!” (We reward her with M&M’s. I know its probably bad parenting, but it gets Ariel to go. Everyone has a motivator).

This was awesome. One victory at a time. So before we laid her down for her nap, she went three more times. I know, so cool. She even climbed down from the table during lunch so she could go.

After nap was a challenge, as Ariel decided she wanted to wear her diaper again. Well since we “threw them away,” she was left with bare bottom or Big Girl underpants. Given those choices, she went naked. Two more hits in the potty before dinner. One after dinner. And all day long, she didn’t have a single accident. Yeah, I’m a proud mama.

Right before her bath, Ariel managed to place quite a smelly #2 in the pot. Wow. I didn’t think she’d do that on the first day of training. Lots of song, dance and high-fives for our little slugger. I didn’t expect this adventure to take all day, but it has and I couldn’t tell you what I did other than listen to the potty watch and dole out chocolate candy all day. It's been a long and exhausting day, but full of success.

I’m hoping we can nail this potty thing down before Christmas and then we can spend the diaper money on a date night.

Cooking Up Halloween Fun!

Ariel became an Iron Chef for Halloween this year. Since I still have creative control, I wanted a costume that was off the beaten path of vampires, pirates, and princesses (although, the princess thing is sure to rear up one of these years).

Our participation in the festivities included a mall trick-or-treat event and a trick-or-treat dinner and door knocking party. On Saturday, we went to the outdoor mall by our house. We wanted Ariel to take a nap, but since she feels she’s such a big girl, she skipped it. So we wasted a good part of the treat collecting and got there 20 minutes before it was over. Now it sounds sad, and it was, but that girl hauled away a good quarter bucket full of loot. Impressive, to say the least. Eric and I also dressed up. It was nice to see we weren’t the only parents to do so.


Pumpkin Carving with Daddy



On Halloween night, we went to the house of Eric’s running friend. She and her husband were so gracious to feed us all before trick-or-treating. There were 6 kids in the group that went out, with Ariel being the youngest. Someone at every house commented on her costume. Yeah, score one for Mom! We’ve been teaching Ariel about patience and waiting your turn, so she was the last one of the group to get candy, but she managed to say “trick or treat” and “’thank you,” every time. Then she would run back to us shouting, “Candy, candy, candy!” Her little beach bucket was so full by the end of the night, that candy was falling out of it, but Ariel wouldn’t let us hold any of it so she could get more. Yes, we are in the “Mine, Mine phase” of the terrible twos. Fun.



We all had a great time this year. I’m wondering if I’ll get another year to choose her costume or if she’ll be old enough to dictate what she wants.

À la cuisine!





The Boo Crew



Obi Wan Kenobi Vs. Pj Pookie




Pirate Girl, Arrrgh!

Costume on a Shoe String: Pirate Style

Ariel was invited to a Pirate birthday party. The family asked the guests to dress in costume. Now Eric and I are not pirate people, so that meant we needed to find a costume. Luck would have it that it was too early in the season for Halloween costumes to be out. So we were now engaged in an exercise of creativity and ingenuity.

What we started with: a plain white t-shirt, frilly socks, black shorts, red material, large lace, red tulle, purple satin, and unrelated costume pattern.

What we bought: sheer dance skirt, black shoes, sequin trim, stiff white felt, and headband.

<-----I used this picture for inspiration.

How we brought our Pirate Girl to life:

1) Trimmed the bottom off the t-shirt. It was a 3T and way too long. Released the gathers in the sleeves. Sewed the large lace onto the neckline and end of loose sleeves.

2) Use Simplicity pattern #, for the vest on the monkey costume. Pinned, cut, and sewed vest and hand sewed sequin trim on the vest. (Yes, this was tedious and time consuming. And yes I stabbed myself…repeatedly).

3) Folded 4 inch wide tulle in half, and ran it through the sewing machine to make it gather and scrunch up. Glued to head band. Using a picture of skull and crossbones on the Internet, traced the image onto stiffened felt and cut two out. One for the headband, one for the belt.

4) Cut a 4 inch wide piece of purple satin 18 inches long. Folded it in half and sewed a seam. Turned it inside out and closed off the opening for the belt.

5) Sail Away:

The shirt was tucked into black shorts and the sheer skirt went over them both. The purple sash was tied around Ariel’s waist and the skull patch was safety pinned on. On went the vest. Ariel’s hair was kept down and curly. She loves headbands, so getting her to wear it was easy. Frilly socks and black shoes and our pirate girl was ready to sail the open seas!

*apparently Ariel was not in a picture taking mood, so this is all we have.

Results of the Splintered Lands Contest

I wanted to thank all of you who voted for my story, “Blessed,” for the Splintered Lands contest. I truly appreciate the time you spent to vote and for the support you have given me in regards to this story.


This contest was a fiasco of epic proportions. Not only was it mishandled, Deepwood Publishing all but admitted through a tweet that “They could change the votes if they had to.” Well, perhaps they did.

What the results boiled down to was three of the four finalists being “disqualified,” leaving the sole author as the default winner. Not how I would have like to win, but a publishing credit is a publishing credit. They claimed that there were too many “voting inconsistencies that led to multiple authors being disqualified.”I did email Deepwood asking why my story was DQ’d, but have heard nothing from them. Unfortunately, I really don’t expect to.

For the record, despite the insinuation, I am not a cheater, nor did I ask anyone to cheat for me. Mostly, I am angry because I spent over six days crafting a story worthy enough for their anthology, only to have them toss it out for reasons beyond my control.

So, when play is not fair, how do you hope to win?

I am left with a story I am immensely proud of. When time allows, I’ll tear it down and build it up in my own world, with my own rules.

Varinia Sulan shall live on!

Lucky Number Seven!

This one time, at summer band camp, I met the man who would become my college sweetheart and eventually, my husband.

The first day I met Eric, it was like I had known him all my life. It was strange and kinda cool in my eighteen-year-old mind. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, but I wasn’t going to not take a chance on him. With that being said, my college relationship with Eric can be defined by one break up and reconciliation after another. We were young and selfish and not sure if this love thing was the real deal or sparked by infatuation. But over the years, we grew up and realized that if we wanted to be together, that we were going to have to fight for each other.

And fight we have.

No one tells you that you will be asked to compromise or surrender all together to keep your relationship on track. You might be called upon to make a sacrifice for the good of your marriage. We’ve made it seven years and have had to do all of these thing and more. Trial by fire will either strengthen your relationship or burn it to a crispy crunch.

We’ve encountered many challenges and heartbreaks — surviving Hurricane Ivan during our Jamaican honeymoon, joblessness, lean financial times, and fertility issues. It’s easy to see why people don’t want to commit to their marriage when life tries to beat them down. A 60% divorce rate says a whole lot about people’s willingness to honor their marriage vows of “for better or for worse.”

But despite the struggles, we have had some great fun. Road trips to triathlons, an Alaskan cruise, buying a house, having Ariel, and getting the chance to fall in love with each other again and again. There are many more adventures for us to have and many more struggles to endure. But with Eric by my side, we have more than a fighting chance.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who have supported and loved us all these married years. Couldn’t have made it without you all. Above all, we owe the strength and love of our marriage to God, who has held our hands through everything.
I love you, sweetheart! Happy Anniversary.

On My Way to Publication via Your Vote

Howdy all!

I have been slacking off on the princess posts and for that I do apologize, however, I have been busy with other writing projects.
I entered a contest for the Splintered Lands anthology http://splinteredlands.com/. This is a post apocalyptic land where magic has torn the world apart. Magic wielders and technologists are despise and hunted, while the Knights govern what they can and destroy the rest.

My story, "Blessed," is one of the four finalists. It under my pen name of Nicki Delone. Who ever wins, will have his/her story as part of the anthology to be published by Deepwood Publishing.

So if you have some time, go to the website and read the submissions. I have some tough competition. Your vote is greatly appreciated. Tell all your friends, neighbors, and paper boys. I don't know how long the voting will stay open, so hurry, hurry, hurry!

Aurora: The Princess Who Personifies Grace & Beauty

Country of Origin: France as told in "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault in 1697.

Movie Debuted: 1959

What Aurora brings to the table: Unerring trust

Age at time of story (in the movie): 16

Major Differences Between original story (OS) and movie (M): The Disney version of "Sleeping Beauty" varies slightly from Perrault's tale, but they are nearly identical. Again we're going for a three way comparison (BG=Brothers Grimm)

1) In all three versions, one fairy is not invited to the christening. The scorned fairy curses the baby, leaving the last fairy to use her gift to counteract the evil. In M there are 4 fairies total, BG has 13 and P has 9.
2) BG & P have Aurora pricking her finger 15 yrs old. Her parents go on a trip, leaving her alone. M has Aurora succumbing to the curse at 16 yrs old.
3) BG & P has the entire castle falling asleep when the princess does. The three good fairies put the castle to sleep in M.

4) The curse lifts after 100 yrs in BG & P. In M, the prince breaks the spell with love's first kiss. Anyone remember that from Snow White?

Moral of the Story/Social Implications:

Bubble Child:

My major issue with this movie is when Aurora goes off into the woods, she meets her first stranger. And a young man at that. He feeds her a line and they spend the afternoon together. What happened to "Stanger Danger?" I understand the importance of protecting your children, but to do so in the extreme invites as much danger as if you didn't protect them at all. We know Prince Phillip is a good person, but Aurora doesn't and your kids won't either when they come across strangers. Arm your children with enough smarts to recognize a potential threat in people they don’t know.

Begging for Mercy

In Perrault’s tale, the curse breaks after 100 yrs. A headstrong prince then makes his way through the thorn barricade, kiss the sleeping princess awake (but not by the power of love), and they marry. Poor Aurora never had a chance. What if the prince had not been a prince at all, but a thief, or a peasant, or worse? In some of the early tellings of this story, the prince who finds Aurora, actually rapes her. Thank you Disney for sparing the rest of us. Did she really have a choice in who she married? Was it love at first sight or did the prince use his powers of persuasion to gain her hand?

Reclaiming What was Stolen

When the evil fairy curses the princes, it is the last fairy who also suffers. Her gift is essentially stolen and now she must use her turn to counteract the harm brought upon the child. While it seems like the raw end of the deal, the situation sets up the last fairy, Merryweather in case of the movie, to be the true hero. Grace, beauty, and musical ability are all fine traits we wish upon our daughters, but the gift of life is invaluable. Merryweather saves the baby and gives her another chance to live the life her parents dream for her. You can’t put a price on that.

No Wrath Like a Fairy Scorned

Something has to be said for the villainess, Maleficient. According to my dad, she is “one bad mama-jamma.” When she is not invited to the christening, she hits the king and queen hard by cursing the baby it took them years and years to conceive. Ouch! That’s a heavy price for excluding someone. So, make a note to yourself, 1) don’t tick off evil fairies, 2) rethink the guest list for your next party/gathering/christening/wedding. The one person you decide not to invite may get offended and send you a nasty gram.

Did you know?

1) Aurora is known by three different names: Aurora, Briar Rose, & Sleeping Beauty

2) Disney wanted the movie of SB to be illustrated as a moving tapestry. Compare to the "Unicorn Tapestries" and see the similarities in color, angular structure, and sophisticated decoration.
3) SB was the second most successful film at the box office after Ben Hur.
4) The music from Peter Tchaikovsky's ballet of the same name was a major source of inspiration for the film.

Poll Results: After counting all the votes, you all think that Aurora's dress should have been a purple compromise. I personally think she would have looked stunning in violet.
Final Note:

This is one of my favorite movies and it truly is a piece of art.